Chicago Medical Malpractice Attorney

On any given day, doctors examine patients, dispense medications, carry out surgical procedures, and provide general care for millions of citizens across the country. Here in Illinois, there were 36,240 active physicians as of 2018, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

Those doctors are backed up by teams of nurses, radiologists, administrators, and other medical professionals. One thing these individuals all have in common is that despite their years of education, training, and experience, they are not infallible. When a mistake occurs, it can lead to anywhere from a minor injury to an unexpected death. If you’ve suffered one of these adverse outcomes, consider consulting with a Chicago medical malpractice lawyer about your right to take legal action.

At Thomas Law Offices, we strive to provide clients with the legal representation they need to recover medical costs attributable to injuries and other losses incurred at the hands of a negligent doctor and other medical providers. When you work with one of our medical malpractice attorneys in Chicago, you’ll be guided through the litigation process step-by-step. So, consider reaching out to us for a free consultation to discuss how we can help you today.

Defining Medical Malpractice

An incident of medical malpractice occurs when any health care provider deviates from the accepted standard of care, resulting in injury or other harm to a patient. These acts of malpractice can include the following:

Misdiagnosis

Diagnosis is the core of medical care. A doctor can’t treat you for an ailment until they determine what it is. Doctors rely on testing to confirm or rule out a diagnosis. However, many diseases and conditions share the same symptoms, which can lead to misdiagnosis. According to a recent story published by USA Today, an estimated 795,000 patients are misdiagnosed each year. Among those misdiagnoses, 371,000 patients died, and another 424,000 were permanently disabled.

It is important to remember that for misdiagnosis to be a factor in a Chicago medical malpractice case, the doctor needs to have missed something that most other doctors would have picked up on.

However, for misdiagnosis to qualify as medical malpractice, your doctor must have performed at a level not equal to other doctors. In other words, they must have missed something that most doctors wouldn’t. Common examples of this occur when someone goes to the emergency room presenting with various symptoms but is sent home only to have their condition worsen.

Delayed Diagnosis

A delayed diagnosis occurs when your doctor takes too long to determine the underlying issue that is the cause of your ailment. Unfortunately, in some scenarios, a delayed diagnosis could mean it is too late to provide effective treatment. Proving this type of negligence requires demonstrating that your doctor’s initial assessment of the condition was lacking. That could mean the doctor did not request the proper tests or the results were overlooked.

Surgical Errors

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that 51.4 million in-patient procedures are performed yearly. There are many ways that a surgery could result in an injury. Consider the following:

• The wrong procedure was performed
• Surgery was unnecessary
• Avoidable damage to the organs, nerves, or tissues
• Surgical instruments were not sterile
• Medical equipment was left inside the patient
• Aftercare was inadequate

Keep in mind that a surgical error is not the same as a surgical risk. Patients are notified of the risks in the pre-surgery consent forms. In some incidents, a patient could be affected by one of those risks, but that would not apply to a medical malpractice case.

Failure To Treat

A failure-to-treat situation occurs when a patient is diagnosed, but there is no follow-through. This type of medical negligence could happen if a patient is sent home from the hospital too soon after a procedure. There could also be an issue of not providing adequate follow-up care. Your ability to pursue a medical malpractice case in Cook County in this instance may hinge on whether you, as the patient, were given the minimum standard of care by your doctor.

Birth Injuries

There are procedures to follow in delivery rooms to ensure the health and wellbeing of the new mom and her baby. Even with all the planning, problems can arise during the labor and delivery process that can lead to a range of birth injuries. In many instances, these injuries could have been avoided.

Prescription Drug Errors

A doctor orders a medication, and a pharmacist fulfills that order. At any point in that supply chain, an error could harm the patient. For instance, a wrong dosage can be prescribed, or the wrong medication can be filled. There are also issues about possible side effects as they relate to other medications that the patient is taking. A doctor needs to thoroughly document and consider a patient’s current prescription history.

Anesthesia Errors

Anesthesia is a vital component of a surgical procedure. For anesthesia to be successful, many factors need to be considered, such as a person’s age, weight, gender, and underlying medical conditions. Failure to account for those factors can lead to mistakes with potentially lasting consequences, such as brain injuries or even death. You can hold an anesthesiologist liable for medical negligence when miscalculations, a failure to monitor patient vitals, and their other actions cause preventable outcomes.

Failure To Prevent Infections

Every hospital and medical office must follow strict protocols to prevent the spread of viruses and infections. However, even with those guidelines in place, infections can still occur. A lapse in sanitary conditions can also spread viruses. Additionally, if surgical equipment or other medical devices are not properly sterilized, it can lead to infections. You may be able to file a medical malpractice case in Chicago if you suspect an unsterile environment caused a deterioration of your health or the premature death of a loved one.

At-Fault Parties for Medical Errors

There is always a team leader for medical care. That can be your general practitioner or head of the surgical team. Those team leaders could be held responsible for the negligence in a Chicago medical malpractice claim. However, there are many other potential at-fault parties that could also be named by your attorney.

Here is a list of the possible medical professionals to consider listing as a defendant in your medical malpractice lawsuit in Chicago:

• Physicians, including surgeons
• Nurses
• Dentists and oral surgeons
• Anesthesiologists
• Pharmacists
• Hospitals
• Medical technicians
• Psychiatrists or psychologists
• Physical therapists
• Midwives and doulas
• Chiropractors
• Consulting specialists
• Radiologists
• Health care providers’ employers, like medical centers and hospitals
• Medical device manufacturers
• Emergency medical technicians (EMTs)
• Outpatient and urgent care centers
• Pharmaceutical companies

What Is an Affidavit of Merit?

If you feel like you or a loved one has been the victim of medical malpractice, you’ll want to discuss that case with a qualified Chicago medical malpractice lawyer. At the Thomas Law Offices, you can meet with our attorneys to discuss personal injury cases like these for free. When we decide to move forward with this type of case, we need to begin by obtaining an affidavit of merit.

In compliance with Illinois law, and more specifically, 735 ILCS 5/2-622, your medical malpractice lawyer in Chicago must contact an independent health care professional, which can be a current practitioner or instructor, regarding your potential case. They must be knowledgeable about the medical issues involved in it and be capable of providing a written affidavit that doesn’t prove the case but confirms that it could be viable.

Statute Of Limitations for Medical Injuries

In any type of tort case, there is a statute of limitations. Illinois law, 735 ILCS 5/13-212, outlines how that filing deadline in our state is generally two years. That time begins from the day you discover your injury. Illinois also applies a statute of repose of four years, which sets further limits on when you can file. The statute of repose does not apply to the direct injury but to incidents related to the injury that occurred earlier.

It is important that you have a thorough understanding of how these statutes would apply to your case. That is another reason to talk to a Chicago medical malpractice attorney who understands the law.

Limits On Med Mal Damages

Whenever there is a large medical malpractice settlement, it always makes the news. Those stories will continue to generate interest here in Illinois, but there won’t be the astronomical settlement amounts. That is because Illinois sets caps on certain damages at the following levels:

Non-economic Damages

According to the National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals, non-economic damages in Ilinois medical malpractice cases are currently capped at $500,000 against health care providers and $1,000,000 against hospitals. These damages include pain and suffering.

Economic Damages

There are no statutory limits on economic damages. That means you can be fully compensated for all your medical expenses, lost income, or future earning potential.

Evidence Needed To Prove a Malpractice Claim

In order to be successful in your Chicago medical malpractice case, you and your attorney need to present compelling evidence. Here are the types of evidence that can help you prove your case:

Medical Records

Your medical records will be the most important element of your case. They will contain detailed information about the following:

• Diagnoses
• Test results
• X-rays
• MRIs
• Treatment
• Procedures
• Medications

Those records will also contain notes from your health care providers that should detail all your contact with them and discussions about any of your concerns. In addition to those records, you’ll also need to provide copies of all the consent forms that you signed there that were part of any procedure.

Those consent forms might reveal the risks and complications that would be outside of the scope of what happened to you. In other words, you never give consent for a medical error.

Medical Bills and Other Receipts

Your medical bills and all the other receipts associated with your treatment and injury will provide evidence of your financial losses. These recipes should document the costs of all your doctor visits, trips to the emergency room, hospital stays, surgical procedures, prescriptions, medical supplies, and therapy sessions.

Insurance Documents

Insurance companies will be a part of your medical malpractice claim. Any doctor or hospital that you file a claim against will have insurance. Your attorney will be negotiating directly with those carriers for your settlement. Your own insurance will also be part of the equation. You can’t sue for losses that you’ve already been compensated for.

Correspondence

All of the written communication between you and your doctor needs to be included in your evidence packet. That communication can provide a valuable timeline of what you’ve gone through as a result of the malpractice incident. It can also demonstrate your doctor’s lack of attention.

Witness Statements

Every health care provider who was part of your procedure could be a potential witness in your Chicago medical malpractice case. For a surgical procedure and hospital stay, nurses and other support staff will make notes about your treatment and aftercare. Those can all be part of your story.

Employment Records

In order to establish losses associated with your work, you need to provide your employment records. This will verify your lost income as a direct result of the injury. Those records could also establish your future earning potential if your injury prevents you from returning to work.

Photographs and Videos

If you have the foresight to document your injuries, those photos and videos can be a part of your evidence. At the moment you consult with an attorney, they will recommend that you begin to keep a pain journal. This will document the impact of the injury on your daily life. That record can help support your pain and suffering claims.

Death Certificate and Autopsy Report

In extreme cases, medical errors result in a patient’s wrongful death. In cases like these, a death certificate will be generated. As painful as it might be to consider, an autopsy will also be conducted to determine the exact cause of your loved one’s passing. That report can help substantiate the alleged negligence that resulted in their untimely passing, which can prove valuable to your proving your medical malpractice case in Chicago.

Elements of Negligence Your Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Must Prove

As your Chicago medical malpractice attorney prepares to move forward with your medical malpractice case, they need to establish the four elements of negligence which are:

• Duty of care
• Breach of duty
• Causation
• Damages

All of this means that you must show that your doctor owed you a duty of care to provide you with acceptable medical care. If they neglected that care or caused an error, that would be a breach.

When the breach is connected to your injury, that becomes the causation. All of the financial and pain and suffering losses you endured, as a result, are your damages.

Secure Your Future With Thomas Law Offices in Chicago

When you work with a Chicago medical malpractice lawyer, you’ll be on the path to a faster recovery. Illinois medical malpractice cases are complex, but we are confident that we have the resources to give our clients the best-case outcomes.

Our legal team has represented clients in numerous medical malpractice cases in Chicago and elsewhere across Illinois, and we have strong relationships with medical experts who can attest to how a reasonable physician should have acted in your case.

Because filing a Cook County medical negligence claim takes time, it’s best to get started as soon as possible. Our personal injury law firm staff will schedule a free consultation so that a medical malpractice attorney can learn more about what happened to you, leading to your health decline or your loved one’s death.

When you don’t know where to turn, Thomas Law Offices is here for you. Schedule a free consultation with our office today to learn more about your legal rights and options under Illinois law.